What Goes Up
by devilishapples
Summary: Usagi and Mamoru are going to America... together. Not going to say anything else cause I want you guys to read it... PLEASE READ IT! A/R and A/U for the most part.
1. Chapter One - A Time For Change

**I know… I KNOW I shouldn't be writing another story when Troubadours and A Moment In Time are still incomplete…. But this always happens to me and probably most writers out there. I literally dreamt this story last night and it wouldn't leave me along all day. I kept following me around like a beaten puppy with puppy eyes all like WRITE MEH! So yea… I'm a marshmallow…. The story won…. –dies-**

"Usako the plane leaves in an hour, and the taxi will be here soon!" A deep voice called to Usagi from down the hall.

"Okay," she called back picking up the roll of clear packing tape and sealing the last of the boxes strewn about her bedroom.

It was hard to believe that Mamoru and she were leaving Japan, but there was nothing left for either of them here. And Mamoru had been given a position as a surgeon in the United States, at Travis Air Force Base, in California. Usagi pushed herself to her feet and bent down retrieving the quilted tote with the a picture of a white rabbit sewn onto it, she then turned toward the door of her bedroom pausing only briefly before turning off the lights and rushing down the hall.

She refused to allow her eyes to settle on the various picture frames still lining the hallway walls, held within their glossy depths were captured memories of happier times for both Mamoru and Usagi. Usagi smiled sadly as she continued down the hallway that held the memories of her childhood. Pictures of her and Mamoru sitting on a porch swing playing cards, or in one picture of her and him rolling down a hill while a large black dog bounded after the children. Hundreds of similar memories and frozen moments stared out at her from the picture frames, and as much as she tried to avoid stopping the hallway turned and she came face to face with a picture of herself and Mamoru as children standing in front of a happy couple, the woman with raven colored hair and blue eyes holding a tiny baby swaddled in a blanket. The man had brown hair and blue eyes and wore a white lab coat and name tag, he stood with almost a military alertness, which would make sense since he had been in the military. With a sigh Usagi's eyes traveled over the people in the picture and she removed the frame from its peg stuffing it in her tote bag before hurrying down the hall.

"Mamo-chan I'm ready whenever you are," she said smiling brightly though the emotion didn't reach her eyes.

"About time Usako," said a tall man with dark raven hued hair and midnight colored eyes.

Usagi opened her mouth to respond by the loud blaring of a car horn from outside stopped her and the two people hurried to gather their belongings before rushing out the door, and into the Taxi. As the vehicle pulled away from the two story home and picked up speed, Usagi turned to look out the back window of the taxi wondering if she would ever see her childhood home again.

"Don't worry Usako, we'll be back eventually." Mamoru said smiling at the younger girl.

Usagi turned on the seat and sighed softly, "I know. But traveling over half way around the world is terrifying Mamo-chan." She said her fingers worrying the strap of her tote bag. "And you're sure the movers will send the rest of our stuff to the right location? America is such a huge place what if it doesn't show up?"

Mamoru pulled Usagi's head down so it rested on his shoulder and set his hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry so much Usako. We're just going on a new adventure, who knows what will happen in the future?"

Usagi allowed him to pull her head against his shoulder and nodded in agreement though her hands stilled twisted and worried the handle of her bag. After a couple minutes of fretting she finally allowed her personal exhaustion to overcome her and drifted off to sleep.

Mamoru felt Usagi's body relax into sleep and felt some of the tension in his own body seep out, he'd been worried about her the last couple weeks. It wasn't easy to just pick up and leave everything you knew behind. But she had done well, and done it because he'd asked her to, not that she'd had much of a choice. He watched the scenery fly passed the taxi's window a frown marring his features as the terminals of Tokyo International Airport came into view. He wondered for the umpteenth time if he made the right decision by agreeing to take this position, his frown deepened and he shook his head. He had to believe that what they were doing was for the best; otherwise nothing would work out in the end.

The taxi came to a stop in front of the airport and Mamoru carefully removed himself from the backseat before paying the driver, then he reached into the backseat again lifting Usagi into his arms and snagging her bag with his little finger.

"Please get the rest of the luggage and follow me," he instructed one of the airport porters as he carried the sleeping teen inside the building.

The man in an airport employee uniform rushed to follow Mamoru's instructions with a nod, and Mamoru moved into the building still carrying the sleeping girl in a princess hold easily. He ignored the stares and whispers of other airline passengers as he walked through the terminal, though he did allow himself to grin slightly knowing that Usagi would have been mortified had she known he was carrying her in such a way. He paused at the check in counter and smiled at the redhead behind the desk; though like Usagi the emotion didn't reach his eyes, in fact if possible the smile made Mamoru look cold and distant.

"I would like to pick up reserved tickets for myself and my sister…."


	2. Chapter 2 - Shadowed Past

**So yea… not what you thought? Exactly what you thought? –ducks flying debris- Also this is not a story about Incest… I promise**

Usagi woke up with a start at the sound of the jet engines and looked around her blue eyes terrified for a moment, partially from her confusion partially because of the plane. She saw Mamoru sleeping next to her, his neck at such an angle she knew he was going to be in pain when he woke up. She noticed through the window across the isle that it was night time, which meant they had been flying for a while. She glanced back at Mamoru and smiled. He had sedated her before they left the house, she wasn't sure how or when but there wasn't an doubt in her mind that he had. Usagi would be mad when they landed, however for now she was glad that Mamoru had taken her abstract terror of planes into consideration and drugged her so she didn't make a scene on take off. She settled against the side of the plane and snuggled under Mamoru's favorite article of clothing, the worlds ugliest green tweed jacket. Usagi laughed slightly remembering his face the morning he'd opened her birthday present to him.

His expression had been one of abject horror as he stared at the item she'd bought him as a joke. Surprisingly though he'd worn it almost religiously since then, and Usagi had never had the heart to tell him that the present was a joke, in fact his really birthday present from that year was still packed away in her belongings that would be following them to America. She had meant to give him the ugly jacket to see his reaction then give him the customized leather motorcycle jacket , but he had thanked her so falsely and with sincere feeling that she hadn't been able to tell him that it was a joke. So eventually she figured she'd give him the other jacket. Or so she'd thought at the time, however it had been five years and she still hadn't found the opportunity, mostly because the green monstrosity had apparently grown on him.

Usagi smiled again at the ugly jacket and sat up adjusting Mamoru's body so that he was leaning on her instead of towards the aisle and slowly lowered herself back against the side of the plane allowing her eyes to drift closed. Things would work out for them, they always did. She figured as she allowed herself to be reclaimed by the tantalizing fingers of the sandman once more. Mamoru shifted in his sleep his arm wrapping protectively around Usagi's waist as he frowns in his sleep sweat breaking out on his forehead. However after a minute or so he relaxes and settles into a comfortable slumber once more.

-Three Weeks Later-

**Fairfield,California**

Usagi pushed her way tiredly into the apartment she and Mamoru shared, glancing around the half unpacked space she dropped her text book heavy backpack with a rather loud thud to the hard wood floor before allowing her shoulders to slump. California was an absolutely amazing place, the people the sights, the golden gate bridge…. however Fairfield California? Fairfield sucked, it was like a pimple on the ass of America. She took her shoes off nudging them with her toe until the rested along the entry way wall then moved further into the apartment looking at the huge amount of open boxes that had their contents strewn all over the place.

When she and Mamoru had arrived it had been chaos, Mamoru had gone straight to David Grant Hospital at Travis Air force Base to report for duty. Usagi had been left with their luggage a house key and a warning to stay home before Mamoru had ran out the door. Now three weeks later their belongings from Japan had arrived and they had only opened the boxes as needed, so it looked like a hurricane had run it's course. Usagi trudged into the kitchen and read the note from Mamoru explaining that he'd be home late, again… and that she should eat by herself…. again. Usagi fought a feeling of loneliness and once more looked around the apartment.

With a decisive shake of her head she decided that if she was going to eat by herself, that she wouldn't eat leftovers or her own cooking. She grabbed her house keys turned around and headed back towards the front door. The other day she had seen a arcade near by that was sure to have something for her to eat, with a backwards glance at the half unpacked apartment she closed the door and headed for the street below. Once there she took a deep steadying breath and started the trek to the arcade.

Once she reached the building she paused outside the doors peering in, she suddenly was unsure of herself and scared about meeting new people. Her English was okay but she still felt like she choked on some of the words, letting her doubts win she turned to go home when she smacked into another person and stumbled back losing her balance and landing on her rump.

"I'm so sorry!" She said scrambling without looking up at the person.

A deep masculine chuckle could be heard," It's okay I shouldn't of been standing right behind you."

Usagi looked up at the guy and blinked her eyes widening, he was one of the most attractive people she'd ever seen with hair the same yellow blonde of her own and bright green eyes. She felt her jaw drop slightly and with a start snapped her mouth closed.

The man stared down at Usagi and tilted his head to the side, "you're new in the neighborhood aren't you?"

Usagi nodded a blush staining her cheeks as she realized she must look like an idiot standing there and avoiding his gaze, "yes my brother and I just moved to this area. He's a surgeon at David Grant hospital." she explained.

The man raised a brow then nodded as realization dawned on him, "you're brother must be Mamoru... I mean Darien. Right?"

Usagi's gaze jerked up to meet his at that, "yes. You know him?"

The man gave her a million watt smile, "yes he stops in most mornings for coffee before work." he offered his hand to Usagi, "you must be Serena. I'm Andrew Montgomery."

Usagi raised a brow at the American sounding name, though she was learning to respond to it. Mamoru had thought it best if they went by the American names they had also been given at birth by their parents. "As you know I'm Serena, I was just wondering what this place has to eat."

Andrew continued to smile and motioned her into the store, "only the best food in town. I should know it's owned by my family." He said with a wink.

The two blonde's entered the arcade and were greeted by another, this one female and about Usagi's age. She had startling blue eyes that seemed to change to green whenever the light hit them and a huge smile. "Andrew where have you been? We're swamped!" the girl declared.

Andrew gave the other girl a sheepish look, and looked around the packed arcade/diner. "Sorry Mina. I found Darien's sister frozen outside the door and had to convince her to come inside."

The blonde turned to Usagi and smiled even wider, Usagi found herself wondering if the girls face was going to split open. "Hello," Usagi said quietly half wishing she could escape from the siblings without being rude.

Mina continued to smile, "hey there! You're brother is waaaay hot, just to let you know. But of course you do because you're siblings and you're very attractive as well and well I'm sure people always confuse the two of you for models and listen to me ramble, Andrew show her to a table I'll bring her some food. What would you like, never mind I'll bring you the house special." she said almost in one breath and rushed off before Andrew or Usagi could respond with more than a nod.

Usagi's eyes widened in surprise and she glanced at Andrew who was just shaking his head, "Sorry about that Mina is ummm hyper to say the least." he explained while escorting her to a table and seating her before disappearing into the throng of customers in the arcade section.

Usagi feeling mentally drained folded her arms on the table and rested her head against them taking a deep breath, she definitely should of stayed in the apartment. Americans were crazy, and confusing. On top of that Usagi missed Japan, and the familiar sound of the Japanese language. Not even Mamoru spoke in Japanese now that they were in America, it made Usagi sad. She didn't move when she heard either Mina or Andrew set a plate of food on the table and rush off again, she just wanted to go home.

With a sigh she pushed herself to a sitting position and eyed the greasy pile of french fries and double cheese burger, she was about to just get up and leave when her stomach grumbled so loud that she flushed in embarrassment. Usagi picked up a fry and started to munch on it while she allowed herself to take a better look at the arcade, true to what the girl Mina had said the place was absolutely jammed busy. Usagi was surprised to even see a line of people out the door waiting for space at the diner, she reached down for another fry and frowned looking down and was surprised to see that she had eaten all of the food on her plate without realizing it.

She flagged down a girl with long black hair and ordered a chocolate milkshake before glancing toward the game section again, she raised a brow spotting a sailor V video game. Usagi was surprised to see a Japanese game in an American arcade, she got up with her milkshake and wandered over to the game before scrounging for change to put into the thing. Usagi soon found herself engrossed in the game as it was a little piece of home in an unfamiliar place, and made her feel comfortable. Usagi stepped back from the arcade came and was amazed that the arcade was empty she glanced at her watch and her eyes widened, it was almost midnight Mamoru was going to kill her. She grabbed her bag quickly paid for her meal and the milkshake and ran out of the building and up the road toward the apartment building praying the whole way that Mamoru had been kept extra late for some reason.

However Usagi's prayers were apparently not to be heard that night, as she rounded the corner of the apartment building she could see Mamoru's tall form silhouetted against the building, with a deep breath to calm her nerves she moved into the lamp light and smiled brightly.

"Hey Mamo-chan." She said hoping he wouldn't be as upset as he looked.

Mamoru swung around half afraid that she'd be injured and half furious that she had been out as long as she had, "Usako where have you been? I've been looking for you for hours, and the stupid police department wont even file a missing persons report until forty-eight hours have passed. I was going out of my mind!"

Usagi winced seeing the fear and concern in his midnight colored eyes and knowing she had caused it, "sorry Mamoru I was at this guy Andrew's arcade and lost track of time playing games and chatting with people."

Mamoru studied the petite blonde while holding his breath, he noticed that Usagi looked happier than she had in a long time and finally let his breath out on a whoosh. "Okay, I'm not mad. I was scared I came home expecting for you to be asleep or watching TV and couldn't find you at all, we're all we have left now I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you." He said softly.

Usagi's breath caught on a sob and she threw herself against Mamoru's chest another small sob escaping as she felt his arms come around her, "I'm sorry Mamo-chan it wont happen again. And I miss them too, this isn't fair to either of us." she said against his chest.

Mamoru stroked a hand down the back of her head and pulled her tight against his chest as she cried, "I know Usako. But we'll survive, we always have." he whispered before leading her into the apartment building, he pushed the door open and patted Usagi on her head. "You should go get some sleep Usako, you start at your new school tomorrow."

Usagi made a face but nodded taking her shoes off and wandering down the hall to her bedroom, she turned back and waved at Mamoru before closing the door. She looked around the bedroom at the half unpacked boxes and walked to the bed flopping down on the be face down with a sigh. She came up for air and her eyes caught sight of the picture frame she had taken off the wall of their home in japan weeks before. The small family smiled out at her and she lifted a hand to the smooth glass, and touched it gentle.

"Momma, Papa, Shingo... we miss you." She said before snuggling under her blankets and drifting off to a fitful sleep.

Mamoru moved around the apartment in the dark not feeling the need to turn on the lights, he sat down in his white leather arm chair and crossed a leg over the other resting his ankle on his knee and sat back a glass of scotch his in hand. With a weary sigh he let his head fall back on the chair and gazed unseeingly up at the ceiling of the apartment. He felt the weight of responsibility of having to take care of Usagi heavily, he raised his head to take a sip of his drink and his eyes caught on a picture frame across the room. In the picture two men stood with their arms around each others shoulders, and in front stood a small black haired blue eyed boy. The two men were garbed in American military uniforms, they both had black hair and blue eyes and both wore the same gamin grin as if they were trying not to laugh at the person taking the picture. The boy wore denim cut off shorts and a tank top, and his head was slightly tilted back to look up at the two men behind him with a look up adoration.

Mamoru stood and set his glass on the end table for for silently walking over and picking up the picture, he studied the faces closer trying to remember the day it had been taken. A vague shadow of memory flitted through his mind and he knew that they had been standing in the Zoo in San Diego California. He knew that the person taking the picture had been Ilene Tsukino, Usagi's mom, and Mamoru's adoptive mother. His father and Usagi's parents had been best friends their whole lives, so when Mamoru's father had died in the car crash that had taken Mamoru's memories... it had only made sense for Kenji and Ilene Tsukino to adopt the boy who had lost his memories and had no family left. He set the picture down and turned away picking up his glass of scotch he headed down the hallway, he paused outside Usagi's door a moment before continuing on to his own room.

As Mamoru undressed for bed he thought about the twists and turns life gave each and every person born. Mamoru had started his life with two parents, his mother died a year after his birth from cancer, his father died in a car crash when he was eight, now at twenty-five his adoptive parents and younger brother had died in a plane crash and his only remaining family was a seventeen year old girl that he had romantic feelings for, that he couldn't act on.

**See! Not incest! Anyway please continue to read and review**


	3. Chapter 3 - A Moment's Peace

**Yes Mina is a complete ditz! I know it's normally Usagi's role but I've always had trouble casting Usagi as an airhead. O.o But please enjoy chapter three. Also I appreciate all the comments I've received on this story and will hopefully post a chapter of **_**A Moment in time **_**and **_**The Troubadours**_** tomorrow or Monday.**

Usagi opened her eyes and groaned, she was supposed to be starting school as a transfer student at Armijo High school today. She pulled the covers over her head and rolled onto her side only to hear Mamoru pounding on her door.

"Usako get up or you're going to be late for your first day!" He yelled through the locked barrier.

"But American schools are lame!" Usagi yelled back without emerging from under her blankets

Mamoru smiled but forced his voice to remain firm, "how do you know? You've never been to an American school!"

"Papa always told us that American schools were substandard, and that the California school district was especially bad," came the muffled reply.

Mamoru was trying so hard not to laugh that he bit his lip, with a half felt sigh he pulled the spare bedroom key from his pocket and unlocked Usagi's door, "Get out of bed now you lazy bunny!" he yelled as loud as he could then walked to the bed and yanked the covers from her.

Usagi shrieked and scrambled for her sheet to cover herself, "Mamo-chan you idiot!"

Mamoru stared in shock frozen like a statue as he watched Usagi scramble to cover her scantily clad body; he saw a glimpse of young breast material barely covered by a tight camisole top. Suddenly a pillow impacted his face and he turned his back to the rumpled teenaged girl on the bed, "get ready for school." He repeated with his back still turned.

"GET OUT YOU PERVERT!" Usagi said throwing another pillow which struck Mamoru on the back of the head.

Mamoru decided that for everyone's future worth that it would actually be a good time for him to exit, he moved to the door and stepped out into the hallway poking his head back through the threshold, "ten minutes Usako."

"OUT!" Usagi shrieked as she looked for something else to throw spotting a heavy paper weight on her nightstand.

Mamoru also seeing the projectile decided to make his exit and closed the door just as a loud thud could be heard from the other side and the door rattled on its hinges. Mamoru shook himself soundly like a dog coming out of water and strolled down the hall to the kitchen berating him-self.

"What the hell were you looking at Chiba?" He muttered to himself while he started a pot of coffee.

"She's off limits…." He continued to mutter as he rummaged in the fridge from some sort of creamer.

"You know… its okay to talk to yourself but when the voices in your head talk back we have issues…." Usagi said brushing out her knee length hair and deftly styling it into two buns on top of her head, allowing the rest to trail down in pig-tails.

Mamoru used the action of digging in the fridge to regain his composure then peeked over the door and almost lost it again, Usagi stood just inside the small kitchen of their apartment wearing a halter top and wrap around miniskirt, and he felt his mouth go dry and his tongue stick to the roof of it. _'Off limits…. off limits…..'_ his internal voice repeated like a mantra. He cleared his throat and smiled sarcastically. "Like you're one to talk Usako, I hear you talking to your stuffed animals all the time."

Usagi stuck her tongue out at him and moved to the coffee pot grabbing her mug; it was pink with white bunnies on it. "So? At least I know they don't talk back."

Mamoru laughed softly and grabbed his own mug sipping at the hot liquid with his eyes closed, once he was centered once more he opened the midnight colored orbs and stared at Usagi, "Usako please at least give the school a chance. You never know you may make some good friends there."

Usagi finished her coffee and rinsed the mug in the sink before setting it on the drying towel and turned to face Mamoru once more, "fine…. Besides it's only one year, it's not like it'll kill me to go." She said without conviction.

"That's the spirit Usako," Mamoru said with a smile as he refilled his own mug and clipped a little plastic lid to it making it a travel mug. "Come on I'll drop you off at school so you're not late."

Usagi made a show of groaning and griping as they walked out to the apartment complex to Mamoru's black muscle car, it had been his fathers and kept in storage for over ten years but Mamoru had paid to have it fixed up and running again when they had moved to America. She watched as he ran a hand over the hood and a pained expression flitted over his face.

"It's okay if you never remember Mamo-chan," Usagi said wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her cheek against his back.

"I know, but I hate having this huge gap in my brain. It's like whatever is supposed to be there is trying to come back but can't." Mamoru said patting her hands before opening the door and helping her inside.

Usagi smiled sadly as she watched Mamoru walk around to the driver's side of the car, she knew his lost memories haunted him in the depths of the night when he slept, or didn't sleep as the case may be. She leaned back in the passenger seat as Mamoru navigated from their apartment to Armijo her eyes watching the surrounding marshlands of Fairfield and Suisun fly by the window. Sooner than Usagi would have liked they were in front of what looked like a warehouse district but was actually a sprawling single story high school.

Usagi had read in the student hand book that Armijo High school took up the space of one full square mile, and educated over three thousand students, how that was possible she couldn't even begin to wrap her mind around. Schools in Japan were smaller and more elite and normally specialized depending on what the student wanted to do as an adult. She got out of the car and waved to Mamoru a trembling smile on her lips, and then without a word she took a deep breath turned and entered the building that said OFFICE in huge black letters above the door.

Usagi paused unsure of whom she was supposed to speak with the 'office' seemed to be a rat warren of cubicles and partitioning walls that served no purpose, people move d in and out back and forth at a rapid pace that made her head spin. Finally one of the secretaries saw her standing there looking lost and dazed and approached her.

"May I help you miss?" the woman asked

Usagi blinked and looked at the woman before rummaging in her shoulder bag for her transfer papers, "My name is Usa… I mean Serena Tsukino." She said quickly correcting herself to use her American name.

The secretary looked at the girl over the rim of her glasses and rolled her eyes, if the blonde girl in front of her was Japanese, then she was Mexican. Which of course the secretary was not, "I see you're our transfer student from Japan?" she said making it obvious that she didn't believe the girl.

Usagi took a deep breath and pasted a smile on, "yes ma'am. I'm half Japanese thus the reason I don't really look Asian. "

"Huh," the secretary said doubtfully then started thumbing through an index card box. 'This is your class schedule you're already late for you first period but they're expecting you. Its room A-5, go out that door. " The woman thumbed at a door over her shoulder, "make a right go to A hall and find number 5." She explained handing the obviously NOT Japanese girl the schedule and returning to her desk.

Usagi blinked a couple times and sighed before following the woman's rather rude instructions, she paused outside the classroom door her palms getting sweaty and looked around for a place to hide. Just as she was about to go into what she figured was a bathroom the classroom door swing open and Mina Montgomery and the black haired waitress from the Arcade exited and the three girls found themselves face to face.

"Oh hey! You're Darien's little sister!" Mina said grinning widely as always. "Are you starting school here? Are you in this class? Oh this is my cousin Raye Santos. She doesn't like most people. But I'm sure the three of us will be great friends!" Mina gushed in an explosion of verbal diarrhea.

Usagi blinked at the bubbly blonde with a mental groan then looked to the girl with raven colored hair and the most startling violet eyes. "Hi…" she said and tried to smile into the other girl's stern expression.

Raye eyed her cousin the corners of her eyes wincing slightly at the noise, then looked to the blonde with the odd hair style and scowled, Raye prided herself on being the prettiest girl in the school and with the introduction of this new transfer student she knew she was in for trouble with her ranking with the student body, on top of that this dumb blonde was Darien's sister? Raye had been attracted to Darien since the first time she'd seen him but all the man could talk about was his kid sister and how wonderful she was. Honestly Raye was almost convinced that the two of them had some strange incestuous relationship between them. However after meeting the girl in person she couldn't see what Darien would actually see in the other woman, at least not enough to cause him to fall in love with his own sister.

"Hey…" she replied then grabbed Mina's arm and dragged her down the hall to the bathroom, the blonde still chattering away like there was no tension between her two companions.

Usagi sighed heavily as she watched the two girls disappear from sight, "friends…. Right." She scoffed recalling Mamoru's words earlier that morning. Straightening her shoulders she pushed the door open and moved to the teacher's desk handing him her transfer notice.

The teacher a middle aged man with long brown hair and a leather bikers vest looked at Usagi over the rim of his glasses then slapped his hand against the chalk board to get the other students attention. "Hey you punks, I'd like you to meet a new classmate. This is Usaigee…" he paused a moment and raised a brow at her.

Flushing in embarrassment Usagi cleared her throat, " You can all call me Serena… I'm Serena Tsukino."

The classroom erupted with questions in rapid fire frenzy;

"Are you Japanese?"

"If you are why do you have blonde hair?"

"Why are you here in America?"

"Do you know Mr. Miagi?!"

"Better yet, do you know kung fu?"

Usagi felt her face turn even redder at the questions and wished to be anywhere but standing at the center of attention. Thankfully the dismissal bell rang and she hurried out the door, in hopes of finding a moment's peace from the questions. She could feel every eye in the classroom including the teachers watching her out of curiosity. The questions were ridiculous… did Americans think that all Japanese people knew Kung Fu? And who the hell was Mr. Miagi?

**So! There we have it… chapter 3. Also Pat Morishita actually did go to my high school which was Armijo High school in Fairfield. Also my algebra teacher road a Harley to school every day and parked it behind the building and finally there was a real BITCH in the office that always used to harass me. So yea I hope you like it… more to follow. But I'm working on chapters for Troubadours and A Moment In Time at the moment. **


	4. Chapter Four-Inner Demons and Nightmares

Chapter 4 – Inner Demons and Nightmares

Usagi entered their apartment much later and smiled slightly seeing Mamoru asleep in his arm chair, she moved to the linen closet and removed a throw blanket draping it over his sleeping form before shutting off the lights and wandering down the hall to her bedroom. The first day at her new school had been horrible; she had been bombarded with questions about Japan and curious half hostile stares from the other girls. Though the one that hurt the most was the hard violet stare of Raye Santos. She softly closed her bedroom door not bothering to lock it and stripped off her clothes before digging in her dresser for a pair of short shorts and a baby t-shirt to wear to bed. She rummaged under her pillow for her diary and pulled out a pen flipping the book open, she sat down at her desk and began to write about the day's events. Wrote about the rude woman in the office and the strange attitude of Raye Santos, and the annoyingly bubbly personality of Mina. With a sigh Usagi closed her diary and turned off her light crawling under the covers on her bed. Life was so different than how it used to be, and now she wasn't sure about what she and Mamoru were going to do in the future. With another sigh she turned onto her side and closed her eyes, slowing her breathing she forced herself into a light slumber.

In the living room Mamoru started to toss and turn in his sleep a clammy cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He tossed and turned under the single blanket that covered him before finally throwing it off though he remained trapped in his slumberous torment.

-_Dream _

Mamoru was walking through the woods, he knew he was in Yosemite state park without having to look around, the tall redwood trees that surrounded him and the layer of moss under his bare feet... bare feet now that was odd. With a shrug he continued on his hike, he had come here with the Tsukino's and his father before they had moved back to Japan. He moved into a clearing and smiled seeing his family sitting on a picnic blanket talking and laughing. Mamoru continued to watch the scene in front of him a sinking feeling starting in the pit of his stomach, where was Usagi? And why was his family here including his mother when they were all dead? Slowly Mamoru moved forward the feeling of dread growing as his bare feet moved over the fog covered ground. Fog... there hadn't been fog when he had started his trek towards his family. It seemed the closer he got to the group the thicker the fog became until it was suffocating in its denseness and impossible to see through. Suddenly the white shroud was filled with terrifying screams and the sound of blade striking flesh. Mamoru spun around in a confused panic and began to run towards where his family had been, he tripped over something on the ground and went sprawling onto the moist earth something warm and liquid splashing over his face. He scrambled to his hands and knees and turned to see what he had tripped over, to his horror it was an arm covered in blood. The fog cleared enough that Mamoru could see a wealth of long golden colored hair, he scrambled forward and he screamed as he found himself staring into Usagi's eyes which were wide and fixed in death.

"This is your future... unless you find the crystal... you will be alone, completely alone." an eerie voice sounded through the fog.

-_End dream-_

Mamoru woke with a thud as he rolled out of his armchair and landed on the hard wood floor of the living room. The throw blanket Usagi had put on him was tangled and thrown away from the chair as if he had balled it up and tossed it, his body was covered in a cold clammy sweat and his muscles were trembled slightly. Slowly he pushed himself to his feet and looked down at his hands cautiously to make sure they weren't covered in blood. He felt a tremor move through his body like a sudden chill that causes you to get the shivers. Blowing a heavy sigh out from his pale lips he ran both hands through his hair trying to get rid of the feeling of the blood on them for the dream had been so real. Mamoru glanced at the clock on the entertainment stand and released another sigh it was four in the morning, there was no point in returning to sleep. Plus he feared having the dream once more, as he normally did. This dream wasn't a new occurrence but every time it happened he still woke up in shock and covered in sweat. He moved into the kitchen and turned on the light above the stove using the small illumination to prepare a pot of coffee and start breakfast for Usagi, it was rare that he cooked for her but he felt the need to do something to steady his hands and calm his riotous emotions. Mamoru began to beat eggs and milk in a bowl and threw a slab of bacon fat into a skillet to make scrambled eggs, and then he popped two slices of cinnamon toast into the toaster and turned back to the stove pouring the egg mixture into the now hot skillet. His tasks complete Mamoru stood near the stove wooden spatula in hand as he stared blankly at the wall above the burners, he had no idea what this crystal was he was supposed to find but he couldn't help but feel that if he didn't do as the dream instructed that Usagi, his last remaining relative would be lost to him as well.

Usagi woke to the smell of thick smoke and her eyes popped opened to see the offensive fumes inching their way under her bedroom door, she hopped out of bed and threw her robe on without belting it before racing down the hall. If it been a less serious situation she would of laughed at the sight of Mamoru standing in his boxers a flaming skillet in his hand while he stared off into space.

"Mamo-chan you idiot! The skillet's on fire!" Usagi yelled rushing to Mamoru her robe flapping around her near nude form as she grabbed the skillet from him and yowled when the handle seared her skin, she almost dropped the offending dish but managed to get it into the sink before doing so.

Mamoru jerked into action at Usagi's cry of pain for once in recent years not being effected by her half dressed state, he quickly grabbed her injured hand and forced her to open her curled fingers. He berated himself silently as he watched the skin swell and blister before his eyes, a couple spots on her palm had burned so badly that the skin was bleeding.

"Sorry," he mumbled as he led her to the couch and forced her to sit while he went into the bathroom and retrieved the oversized first-aid kit that was under the sink. He returned to her side and rummaged in the small overnight bag that made up the container for the first-aid kit for gauze and burn ointment. "Sorry," he said again continuing his search his hands shaking finally in a moment of frustration he upended the case and spilled the contents on the floor. Rolls of medical tape, gauze and bottles of ointment rolled across the living room.

Usagi cradled her burned hand in her lap and frowned at Mamoru as he chased the medical supplies he needed across the living room floor. Something was bothering him lately and she would be lying if she said she wasn't hurt from the fact that he wouldn't share his problems with her, they always told each other everything. Well... almost everything she thought blushing slightly at the memory of the erotic dreams she had been having lately with a mystery lover she was sure was Mamoru. "Mamo-chan, I want you to stay home from work today... you're in no condition to operate on anyone." Usagi said softly watching as Mamoru fumbled with the roll of gauze and noticing his hands trembling.

Mamoru looked up at Usagi in surprise, "why would I do that? I'm perfectly fine." he said before hastily wrapping Usagi's hand in the gauze.

Usagi sighed and grasped Mamoru's wrist lifting his hand so he could see it, "look Mamo-chan. You're shaking so hard it took you twenty minutes to treat a burn, what would happen if you operated on a patient with your hands like this?" she asked softly

Mamoru looked at his hand and watched as a fine tremble coursed through it, he pulled his hand from Usagi's and sighed, "What do you want me to do Usako? I can't just take a day off from work."

Usagi smiled brightly, "Sure you can!" she said standing and moving to pick up the cordless phone on the kitchen counter, and began dialing a number.

"What are you doing Usako?" Mamoru asked standing as well.

Usagi held up a finger and smiled at him while she began talking through the phone, "Hello yes, this is Serena Tsukino I'm calling to let you know that I am on my way to the emergency room and will not be coming to class today. I sustained a third degree burn on my hand." That finished she hung up the phone and held it out to Mamoru expectantly.

Mamoru stared at the device then at Usagi and sighed before taking the phone and repeating the call to the hospital; he hung up then glanced at the petite blonde. "Now what?"

Serena grinned impishly at Mamoru and shoved him with her good hand down the hallway. "Now we get dressed, then we go party!"

Mamoru dug his heels in preparing to argue as he looked over his shoulder to see her looking happier than he had seen her in a while, "fine." He said with a sigh and allowed Usagi to push him into his bedroom.

Mamoru quickly dressed in a pair of khaki slacks and a black t-shirt he grabbed his green jacket and sunglasses and headed for his door, catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror above his dresser he paused and studied his reflection. He could easily see why Usagi was worried about him, his eyes had a glassy look to them and dark circles surrounded each eye. His skin was pasty and his cheeks gaunt, honestly in his own opinion he looked like hell. He also knew the cause of his appearance, the constant nightmares he had every night were slowly driving him towards a mental break down. He also constantly felt the need to find this silver crystal that the voice in his dream pushed him to find, with a sigh he turned and exited his room closing the door on his reflection and inner thoughts.

Usagi met Mamoru in the hallway and grinned at him, she was wearing a pair of faded denim jeans that looked like they had been painted on and a white tank top, her hair was braided in pig tails and she held an old denim jacket over one arm. Her blue eyes fell on the green monstrosity over his arm and she scowled.

"I can't believe you're bringing that, I should have burned it long ago." She said half joking.

Mamoru chuckled and tugged on one of her pig-tails, "I can't help it if you have bad fashion taste Usako. And you better not burn my jacket; if it goes missing I'll know why."

Usagi swatted at his hand and stuck her tongue out at him before turning on her heel and flouncing down the hall to the door, she turned to stick her tongue out one last time. However when she spun around to exit the door she slammed right into the side of it and smashed her face against it which caused to her to bite her protruding tongue. Mamoru started laughing, he laughed so hard that tears began to stream from his eyes. Usagi watched him for a moment pouting and holding both her tongue and nose then suddenly the humor of the situation and the fact that Mamoru was laughing caused her to start laughing with him. Mamoru straightened and wiped his eyes, still chuckling every so often and reached around Usagi holding the door for her.

"After you klutz," he said grinning down at her.

Usagi stuck her tongue out once more though carefully then gathered her pride and exited the apartment regally, though she could still hear Mamoru chuckling behind her which caused her to smile.

**So that's it I know it's short but I couldn't figure out how to finish the chapter besides this.**


	5. Chapter Five - Shopping Date?

"Oh my god, Mamoru look how cute this is!" Usagi practically squealed and turned holding a large stuffed bunny rabbit in her arms.

Mamoru raised a brow and eyed the large plush animal which was almost as big as Usagi a grin tilting his lips, "you want it Usako?"

Usagi snuggled the bunny then shook her head and placed it back on the table it was sitting on with a sigh, "no it's cute but a bit gaudy don't you think? What would my friends think if they saw that in my room?"

Mamoru shrugged and they exited the toy store and continued down the mall window shopping as they walked, he slowly became aware of people stopping to stare at them and felt suddenly self conscious. "Usako people are staring at us…" he said quietly in Japanese

Usagi blinked at the sound of Japanese and tilted her head at Mamoru; she could see an embarrassed flush starting to crawl up his neck. "It's ok Mamo-chan, they're just curious because you're so attractive." She stated completely oblivious to the fact that the men were staring just as hard at her.

Mamoru frowned at a guy over Usagi's head then took her hand pulling her into the nearest store, which happened to be a jewelry store. He looked around in dismay as Usagi rushed over to the cases containing jewelry and shrugged slightly deciding he might as well look for the crystal from his dream. He turned and stared at the trinkets in the case, his gaze traveled over rubies, and emeralds, and topaz, and honestly gems of all shapes and colors. He however didn't see anything that looked like a 'silver' crystal, and with a sigh started to turn from the case when a voice stopped him.

"Looking for something for your girlfriend?"

Mamoru turned back to the sales clerk and shook his head slowly, "It's not like that." He started to explain.

"Ah… you have a crush." The sales clerk inferred and nodded wisely before turning and picking a box from the case behind here. "You're sure to win her heart with this," the lady said and opened the box.

Inside lay a crystalline rabbit figurine on a thick silver chain, Mamoru felt his pulse begin to speed up when he saw it and looked at the woman behind the counter, she had wavy black hair and blue eyes that seemed to draw him in. Mamoru shook himself roughly and smiled politely, "thank you but no. You've seemed to have misunderstood, the blonde is my sister."

The woman smiled as if she didn't quite believe that, and turned placing the box once more on the case behind her then lifted another and held it out to him, "in that case I believe this one will suit you just fine." She said

Mamoru could have sworn he saw a golden symbol of some sort on the woman's forehead; he looked down at the new box and felt the breath freeze in his chest. He was staring at a perfect ruby and gold rose bud, he reached out with a hand and touched the delicate looking petals feeling like he were about to suffocate. As his finger tips brushed across the crimson petals his vision started to fade and he swayed where he stood, he braced his hands on the jewelry case and shook his head to clear his vision.

"I'd like to buy this please," he told the woman behind the counter who seemed to be concerned about his strange behavior.

"I'll tell you what, I'll give you both for a good price." she said with a smile indicating the box she had previously returned to the case.

Mamoru nodded distracted as he tried to bring his pulse rate back under control, he purchased the two items and quickly placed them in the bundle of bags he was carrying.

Usagi studied the contents of the cases while trying to keep an unobtrusive eye on Mamoru, she had hoped that by them playing hooky and having a play day that he would start looking better. However she frowned in concern and he almost fainted and would have turned to go to him if an item in the case hadn't caught her attention. She studied the small clear crystal her blue riveted to the pendant from which it hung.

"Excuse me; may I see this item please?" She asked flagging down the closest employee.

A man with almost waist length pure white hair turned and smiled gently at Usagi, "but of course ma'am." He said and unlocked the jewelry case lifting the crystal pendant out on a bed of blue velvet. "This is brand new we just got it in last week, I was told that this crystal was found in one of the moonstones that NASA have brought back from the moon in the past."

Usagi blinked and shook her head slightly, being near this man was making her fuzzy headed and she was having a hard time focusing. He seemed to exude a wave of serenity that made people feel safe and groggy at the same time. "The moon? Really?"

The man nodded his hair sliding silkily over his shoulder, "indeed I have it from a most trusted source. And as the case maybe this particular pendant is on sale for this day only."

"Sale…" Usagi said vaguely and smiled into the man's cinnamon colored eyes, she was honestly feeling like she had been drugged.

"Yes ma'am, would you like to purchase the item?" the man asked flashing her a charming grin of even white teeth, though his canines appeared to be more pointed than they should have been.

Usagi blinked slowly at the man once more then nodded her head, "I'll take it." She said smiling back at him when he smiled.

A short while later Usagi and Mamoru found themselves sitting in a small diner across from the mall enjoying a late brunch while chatting about random topics. While they each realized the other was lost in their own thoughts to everyone else the appeared to be enjoying a regular date as a couple.

The waitress appeared delivered their food and made goo goo eyes at Mamoru for a while before the fact that Mamoru was completely oblivious changed the waitresses flirting look to crestfallen. Usagi smiled slightly to herself and shook her head at Mamoru in mock chastisement.

"Mamo-chan you could at least pretend to notice when a girl stares at you with hearts in her eyes," she said shaking a finger at him.

Mamoru blinked and looked up at Usagi then at the table, "when did the food arrive?"

Usagi giggled and rolled her eyes, "Only about five minutes ago."

Mamoru flushed and picked his fork taking a bit of his salad as he once again sunk into his own thoughts, he hadn't been able to find the crystal his dream voice told him to locate but the rose pin he had bought felt scalding hot inside the pocket of his jacket. His left hand clutched the item unconsciously and he asked himself how far he would go to protect Usagi?

He would die for her.

He had his answer, whatever or whoever tried to hurt Usagi, Mamoru would fight.

**Sorry it's boring but yea hopefully more entertaining next chapter, also look for updates of Troubadours and A Moment in Time. 3**


	6. Chapter Six – Relationships and Old Toys

Late that night Mamoru found himself pacing back and forth across the living room of their apartment, Usagi had gone to bed hours ago and as usual Mamoru couldn't sleep. Well more accurately he couldn't relax long enough to sleep. Ever since they had returned home from the mall Mamoru had been up able to shake a feeling that something was going to happen tonight, what this event would be he had no idea. But if it was something that would threaten Usagi he'd be there to stand in the way, Mamoru turned from the windows that looked out over the city and blinked seeing a pissed off Usagi standing in the entrance to the hallway.

"I thought you went to bed," he said frowning slightly.

Usagi tossed her sleep tousled hair and gave him a dirty look, "who can sleep when you're walking around for hours every night? You should be the one in bed, not me."

Mamoru eyed the sheet that was draped loosely over Usagi's shoulders to cover her sleepwear, and then with great effort raised his gaze to meet Usagi's blue eyes. "I am fine. You however are a growing child and a high school student who needs her rest so she can get good grades."

Usagi's eyes widened and her nostrils flared at being called a 'child' it was like a blow straight through her heart, sure they were siblings, and sure she was under developed for her age, BUT she always got compliments from people on her looks. "I'm not the one that's prowling the apartment looking like a psycho because I can't sleep! You're a doctor for heaven's sake you should know when something is wrong with you and is affecting your judgment!"

Mamoru felt his temper rising as he stared at the blonde in front of him, he narrowed his midnight colored eyes and opened his mouth only to close it on words he knew he would regret. "Go to bed now…" he said in a dangerously soft voice after a moment.

Usagi's pulse skipped a beat at his tone; she'd never heard Mamoru talk with such a dark underscore to his voice. "Whatever…" she said before tossing her hair and marching back down the hall the sheet trailing behind her. She paused at the open door to her bedroom and looked over her shoulder at the man that was staring a hole through her back, "who cares if you collapse anymore from exhaustion or kill a patient you're supposed to be operating on. After all the all-knowing mighty Mamoru knows best." With that she moved into her room and slammed the door shut causing the barrier to tremble on its hinges. She stood just inside the door for a moment before she grabbed her desk chair and stuck it under the knob, once that task was complete she let the sheet drop from her shoulders and the tension fall away from her and flopped face down onto her bed. Men were jerks….she thought as she drifted off into a fitful sleep.

Mamoru felt his shoulders slump at the sound of Usagi's door slamming shut, with a sigh he moved wearily to his arm chair and allowed his knees to collapse half expecting that he'd miss the chair and sprawl onto the floor; however with a muffled thump he landed in the cushioned comfort of his chair. He raised both hands to his face and scrubbed at it vigorously until he was more awake, then he lowered his hands enough so his eyes were shown and stared off toward the corner lost in thought. As much as he wanted to deny it Usagi was right, if _something_ didn't change soon he would make an irreparable accident at work or even worse in his relationship with Usagi. Lately the lack of sleep and dreams and yes even sexual tension from having a half-naked teenager around him half the time was driving him insane. Well…. If he were honest with himself it wasn't so slow, that insanity thing. So far he'd been able to hide his lack of sleep with coffee and energy drinks and strict medical training while at work. But he could feel himself slipping and that terrified him, maybe he should put in for emergency leave….Mamoru closed his eyes and sighed turning the idea around in his head, it wasn't a bad idea and it's not like they could fire him from the hospital. And even if he did get fired, Mamoru was a highly sought after surgeon, not so much because of his own skills which were exceptional but because of who his mentor and teacher had been. Mariana Mizuno had taught Mamoru everything she knew when it came to surgery. Now Mamoru was one of the best in his field of specialty. Midnight blue orbs popped open once more and he nodded coming to a decision, he would call the hospital in the morning and let them know he had to take a couple weeks off for personal reasons.

With Mamoru's decision made and his mind in agreement he stood and turned off the low lighting in the living room and down the hallway, he paused a moment at Usagi's door and after a slight hesitation he turned and entered his room. He could always talk with Usagi in the morning and apologize to her, as it was with the decision to take time off of work Mamoru felt recharged like he could take on the world. He stared around his room and with some surprised realized that since he and Usagi had moved to California that he hadn't really slept in his own bed, he always fell into an exhausted sleep in his arm chair. Quietly closing his door he moved into the room and toward his dresser, he stared at the items that occupied the wooden surface. Small picture frames holding images of Mamoru and Usagi as children, larger frames holding memories of the whole Tsukino family. In all the pictures Mamoru looked loved and cherished, however he remembered that he had always felt the loss of his biological parents, even though he knew he was accepted by the Tsukino's.

Mamoru's eyes fell on a picture of him and Kenji the day of Mamoru's graduation from college. The man's face held such a look of pride and love, Kenji's arm was around Mamoru's shoulders as they grinned at the camera, Mamoru holding up his rolled diploma. Slowly Mamoru traced the image on the picture with a finger, before turning his back on the frozen memories smiling out of their frames at him. He stripped off his clothes carefully folding them and placing them on the sailor's chest at the foot of the bed, he performed some stretches trying to work the kinks out of his back while thinking about Kenji Tsukino.

Kenji had always treated Mamoru like his own son, and Mamoru had always felt that Kenji was truly a father too him. It was for these reasons that he couldn't, and wouldn't act on his feelings for a particular blonde teenager that was now his responsibility. What would Kenji think if Mamoru started dating his only daughter after his death? With a heavy sigh Mamoru climbed between the sheets on his bed and lay staring up at the ceiling. After a moment he propped himself up on an elbow and rooted under the mound of pillows, with a grunt of victory he pulled his prize free of its prison and eyed the worlds ugliest and rattiest stuffed bunny.

Mr. Floppy, as the rabbit had been named by Usagi at the age of two, had been her very first stuffed animal. She had presented the toy to Mamoru after his father's death, while Mamoru had still been in the hospital after the accident. He continued to eye the toy which now had only one shiny glass eye and the stuffing was starting to come out in spots, the fake fur had been worn away so that the poor bunny look like he had mange. However it was probably with the gift of this stuffed bunny that Mamoru had started to fall in love with Usagi, and while he was sure no one knew it Mamoru always slept with the rabbit when it was around. He placed Mr. Floppy in the crook of his arm and snuggled under the sheet slowing his breathing so that he fell into a deep hopefully dreamless slumber. Across Mamoru's bedroom unbeknownst to him the rose pin he had purchased earlier that day began to pulse with a faint red light, and outside Mamoru's window a figure smiled in satisfaction and turned disappearing into the night.

Miles away high up in the hills four figures stood in silence staring over a starlit lake, however the silence wasn't strained, and the figures just did not feel the need to speak. The sound of someone approaching caused one of the people to turn and greet their guests with a smile. The man had long straight platinum hair and icy blue eyes; he appeared to be unapproachable though a flicker of warmth traveled over his face as he greeted his friends.

"Welcome Luna, and Artemis." He said in a deep rumbling voice.

"Ah Kunzite, you always pic the best locations for our little meetings," a woman with long wavy black hair and cinnamon colored eyes said smiling up at him, and if one were to look closely the would be able to notice the long cat like tail that flicked back and forth behind the woman.

Kunzite bowed slightly from his waist in a courtly gesture and smiled, though it was more an upward tilt of his lips. "I strive to impress, Lady Luna."

Luna laughed and let go of her husband's hand before throwing her arms around Kunzite in a friendly hug, which caused the taller man to freeze. Physical contact was not Kunzites strong point by any means. He did however smirk at the man that had accompanied Luna; Artemis was pale light to Luna's dark beauty. He hair pure white hair much like Kunzite the fact they looked so alike down to the blue eyes was not an accident, the two men were distant cousins and actually got along quite well except for where Luna was concerned.

Artemis eyed Kunzite and a low hiss escaped from between his teeth, his own tail much like Luna's lashing back and forth quickly, "you can unhand my wife at any moment cousin."

Kunzite chuckled and untangled himself from Luna offering her his arm, "come Luna. Or your husband might scratch me."

Luna's musical laughter filled the late night air as the trio moved toward the others, "it's always good to see you Kunzite… all of you." She added smiling warmly at the other three men.

Zoicite took Luna's hand and kissed her palm softly before stepping back pushing his hair out of his face, he looked the entire world like a woman with shoulder length wavy yellow blonde hair and blue eyes that held an acute intelligence in them. Except for the width of his shoulders and the stubborn square jaw, and of course the fact that his voice was much deeper than most men's helped rid him of the 'woman' tag.

Jadeite grinned mischievously at Luna and pulled her into a hug swinging her around, his hair had grown out some though still short compared to the others it brushed his jawline. Nothing however about Jadeite could be said to be feminine, when you're six foot four inches tall and built like a linebacker people tend to not think 'woman'. His personality was the wildest of the four men, because he was always ready to harass or tease one of his friends. It made him very outgoing, and caused his chocolate brown eyes to almost always have a twinkle in them. "Luna run away with me!"

Luna swatted his arm playfully and shook her head, "only if you want Kunz and Artemis to track you down and beat the dog shit out of you."

Jadeite just laughed ignoring the glares from Artemis and Kunzite, "maybe later then." He said releasing her.

The last man stepped forward his Kelly green eyes focused and serious, he had curly brown hair that stopped at mid back and fully lips that always looked like he'd just been making out with someone. Though Luna knew that wasn't the case, Nephrite always kept to himself even though he was good friends with all present. His particular gifts kept him distant and always on his guard, many thought this gave Nephrite a mysterious air about him. His eyes widened as he touched Luna's hand briefly, he studied the petite woman before him not letting his eyes stray and raised a brow slightly.

Luna flushed and stepped away from Nephrite shaking her head ever so slightly at his silent question.

"Always a pleasure Luna," he said in his deep bass voice and grinned though concerned laced through his features.

Kunzite and Artemis stepped forward at the same time and even spoke at the same time.

"Enough."

"Let's get started."

"You can always tell these two are related when they're together because they start acting similar." Jadeite said and dodge a mock punch at his head from Kunzite.

"Anyway, they're right." Luna said and took the offered tree stump as a seat that Nephrite offered her.

All the men's expressions changed to something more serious at her tone and with a flick of his hand Jadeite started a cozy campfire for them. "I observed the man in question this evening before coming here. It would seem that you and Artemis are correct in your assumptions Luna. I have no doubt that this Mamoru Chiba is our reincarnated prince, the amulet you sold to him today reacted to his presence."

"However the girl that was with him that Artemis sold the pendant too is not who we believed her to be… at least there has been no reaction." Zoicite said taking his glasses off and rubbing the bridge of his nose thoughtfully.

Luna and Artemis exchanged looks then looked back to the rest of the group, "I wasn't wrong… at least I don't think I was wrong… however Luna and I will go undercover around the neighborhood to make sure." Artemis said taking Luna's hand and smiling at her.

The others nodded except for Nephrite who was looking at Luna oddly, blinking he refocused on his friends.

"Should we tell this Mamoru how lucky he is to be a reincarnated prince?" Jadeite asked sarcasm dripping from his words.

Luna felt a twinge of regret; she hadn't given the four men an option when it came to remembering their past lives, or their past betrayals. However they had all forgiven her, or at least pretended too.

"No," Nephrite said in his normal vague way, and all assembled just nodded and accepted it.

"So for now further surveillance I suppose is the best. Watch out for engravers movements, they're bound to start again soon. Which is why we decided to look for at least the prince and princess?" Kunzite said.

With that the other's parted ways melting into the darkness silently, Kunzite turned to return to his own home when he spotted Nephrite staring out over the lake at the stars. "What's troubling you my old friend?" he asked the other man.

"Luna's pregnant." Nephrite said softly

Kunzite felt his stomach drop to his toes at those two very simple words; it wasn't that he wasn't happy for his cousin and his wife. But there were complications to be dealt with when it came to the reproduction of the Luna-dian, or the Lunar-Cats as they were also known. The fact that Artemis was the only surviving cross-breed with another race didn't help things, and the fact that Luna had already had three miscarriages in the past was sure to worry them all.

Kunzite took a turn gazing at the stars, "I don't suppose you can cheat and tell me the results?"

Nephrite remained silent.

Kunzite sighed; he wished he could take his friends silence in confirmation in either direction but Nephrite never talked about what he saw more than he had too. And often he left out more than he should.

"I assume Artemis doesn't know yet?" Kunzite asked softly.

"No."

Kunzite nodded and turned leaving his friend in his contemplation of the stars overhead, no one touched Nephrite without his permission. He was the strongest touch clairvoyant in the world and even if the person touching him had psychic shields Nephrite would tear them to shreds without meaning too. Kunzite could only imagine what living and never being touched would be like, however Nephrite accepted his fate better than any of the others would have if it had been them.

Nephrite continued to watch the stars, "you have a poor sense of humor…" he said to the silent night before turning and disappearing into the growing dawn.


	7. Chapter 7 – Transformations

**I would like to thank all of the reader's that have review this story, I love the comments I get it makes me think I might actually be a decent writer. Also this is a longer chapter I actually didn't get to the stopping point I wanted too but I think it works. _ I'll try to write on Troubadours as well and post something today. Sadly I've hit a block with that story again.**

**Thanks too;**

**Trish1573**

**DelSan13**

**Sailor Tala**

**Nacy67**

**LoveInTheBattleField**

**LunarStar99**

Usagi slowly opened her eyes and blinked looking around; she was surprised when she didn't see Mamoru in her room trying to wake her for school. With a comfy sigh she snuggled under her covers and closed her eyes again. Mmmm... it was nice to sleep in… wait… Usagi's eyes flew open and she stared at her alarm clock, it read 9:30 in the morning. She scrambled from the bed her feet tangling in the covers and she crashed to the floor with a startled scream. Why hadn't Mamoru woke her up for school? She flung clothes about as she tried to find something to wear and hoping on one leg as she pulled her designer jeans on she moved down the hallway.

"Mamoru! Why didn't you wake me up?!" she yelled finally winning the fight with her jeans and fastening them, Usagi looked up when silence greeted her yelling. The apartment was empty… like really empty as in no one had been there for hours… empty. Usagi frowned and moved into the kitchen eying the covered plate of food and the small note on top with a red rose lying next to it. She slid into one of the kitchen barstools and opened the note reading Mamoru's familiar scrawling handwriting.

_Usako,_

_Sorry about our fight last night, I shouldn't have called you a child. Also I got called into the hospital for a couple hours today, but I made you breakfast._

_Mamoru_

And at the very bottom written in such a way that Usagi had known that Mamoru was laughing as he penned it was.

_PS. It's Saturday…. American students don't go to school on the weekends._

Usagi cussed for a good five minutes before taking the omelet and throwing it in the microwave still grumbling. Mamoru could have told her that there was no school on the weekends! Usagi would have liked to sleep in until about noon, with a defeated shrug she ate her breakfast and moved to the couch flopping down on it so she could watch TV.

Mamoru looked at the clock on the wall of his office at the hospital, despite all his plans to take emergency leave for a couple weeks they had called him in to perform an emergency heart bypass surgery on an eighty year-old man. And Mamoru hadn't been able to say no, after all if he could help why shouldn't he? Now a couple hours had turned into four surgeries total, and a mountain of paperwork. With a sigh he let his forehead drop to the desk in front of him and groaned, while the additional sleep had helped him he still felt like crap. A light tapping at his door brought his head up and he smiled at the person knocking.

"Hey Zoicite, what brings you to the surgery wing?" Mamoru asked smiling, Zoicite had been the first person at the hospital to make friends with Mamoru and he had been surprised to find that the man was of Japanese descent. Zoicite had blonde hair and blue eyes and looked a bit like Usagi down to the girlish appearance. Which Mamoru knew was a sore spot for the blonde doctor.

"Oh hey Darien, I'm surprised to see you here today as well." Zoicite said his voice rumbling out the words.

Mamoru answered to his American name easily enough, "Ya, emergency bypass. I was actually in the process of calling in and requesting time off, when Adalae called me requesting that I come in today."

Zoicite nodded briefly and eyed Mamoru curiously, "you probably need the time off. You've looked like crap since you started here."

"Thanks…" Mamoru said with a grimace and chuckled ruefully to himself knowing the words to be true. "I guess you're right just had a lot of things happening all at once. First my parents die then I inherited the responsibility of my younger sister. Life's just hectic at the moment; hopefully it'll get better before the summers over."

Zoicite studied his finger nails before pulling out a file and using the tip to clean invisible grime from underneath them. Mamoru watched this show for a couple moments then raised a brow, "so since I know you've better things to do than keep me company while I do paper work, how may I help you Zoicite?"

Zoicite continued to clean his fingernails and glanced at Mamoru over the rim of his glasses before setting aside the file with a small sigh, "I'm in a bit of a dilemma. My cousin is going out of town for a couple weeks and has two cats, I'm not allowed to have pets in my apartment and I was wondering...?" Zoicite let his question trail off.

Mamoru almost choked on his own tongue and shook his head vigorously, Usagi would never let the animals leave if he brought them home, "I can't Zoi...there's no way my sister would never give the animals back!"

Zoicite frowned in concern though really he was smiling inside, "Please Darien I have no one else to turn to." he implored giving Mamoru the full weight of his 'girlish' look.

Mamoru didn't know if he should laugh out right as Zoicite gave him the 'look'. While from a distance Zoicite might be mistaken as a woman, there was nothing girlish about him up close. "Okay...just stop with the look... its creepy coming from you."

Zoicite grinned triumphantly and stood pocketing the nail file and glanced at the clock, "great I'll drop them by sometime this evening. "he announced then exited Mamoru's office and whistled softly under his breath as he strolled down the hall back towards the oncology wing.

Mamoru allowed his head to drop on his desk with a thud, papers and files scattered ever which way and some fluttered to the floor... he had just been played like a fool into taking these animals. He just hoped when the time came that Usagi would allow Zoicite's cousin to reclaim their pets. With another sigh Mamoru bent picking up his dropped paperwork and files and set them back on his desk before grabbing his coat and heading for the door. He met up with his boss Adalae and informed her that he'd be taking a couple weeks off, and after receiving an affirmative response left the hospital pausing a moment to stare up at the bright California sun.

Mamoru with a relieved smile moved to his motorcycle and climbed on making sure his helmet was in place he headed home, on his way out of the hospital he had run into Zoicite and been informed that the other man would be dropping the cats off at Mamoru's apartment sometime in the next couple hours. Mamoru rolled his eyes once more thinking that it'd be a miracle if Usagi let the animals return to their owner in the end. He pulled his bike into the parking spot next to his car and got off hanging his helmet on the handlebars he ran up the stairs and opened the apartment door only to be greeted with silence, and a rummage strewn living area._ Usagi must have been annoyed this morning when she realized there was no school..._ Mamoru thought as he slipped his shoes off and began picking up the mess, wondering briefly where the little blonde had disappeared too.

A short time later Mamoru was frying up some tempura for dinner and humming to himself when pain lanced through his chest and he suddenly stumbled against the counter, he gasped and clutched at the spot sweat beading over his body. Slowly he slid to the kitchen floor his breath coming in shallow pants and his vision fading. Just as he was about to lose consciousness a blinding red light filled his vision and he felt changes coming over him. He closed his eyes as a harsh wind blew into his face. Mamoru must have fainted because he came to a moment later and slowly rose to his feet, his body felt strange and as he glanced down at himself he realized that his clothes had changed. Gone were his black slacks and white shirt, instead he seemed to be wearing a fully tuxedo, he frowned wondering if he were having one of his strange dreams again. Mamoru let released his grip on the edge of the counter and swayed as his legs trembled, he felt like he'd just worked a sixty two hours shift. He was about to move into his bedroom to look at himself in the full length mirror when a nagging situation had his feet moving in auto-pilot out the window of the apartment.

Mamoru didn't have a chance to cry out thinking he was going to plummet to the ground because he landed gracefully on a roof top and soared to the next building. His body almost moving on its own was taking him toward the source of the nagging feeling in his chest. The flapping of material caught his attention and he glanced behind him to see a full length cape billowing out behind him. He refocused his attention ahead of him as his body continued to move without his conscious will, it was like he was riding in someone else's body towards an unknown destination. Suddenly he was soaring again this time down into a park, as he descended a cane appeared in his right hand and stared at it. He looked toward the ground again fully expecting to hand with a fabulous splat on the parking lot below, but instead he landed lightly on his feet. Mamoru had a moment to take a better look at him and saw that he was now wearing white formal evening gloves that ended at his wrists and a top hat, over his face a domino style mask had appeared.

_I must be dreaming..._he thought as he glanced at the setting sun. Suddenly his contemplation of the strange event was disrupted by an eerie laugh. Mamoru looked all around trying to find the source and finally not seeing anyone looked up. A man stood in the air... no really the other man was floating in the air above him.

"So I see they found you," the mysterious man said.

Mamoru studied the other person as well as he could from the ground, the man seemed to be tall with short red hair and black eyes, on his forehead was a strange tattoo like mark and he wore a vest with no shirt and green pants. Mamoru honestly thought that the other man had horrendous fashion sense, but seeing that he was dressed in a formal tuxedo... he didn't have room to talk. "Who are they?" Mamoru asked seriously confused and half expecting for this to turn out to be a candid camera moment.

"The Shitennou, who else would I be speaking of?" The man said laughing his eerie laugh once more.

Mamoru stared at the man baffled, and beginning to believe that he lost his mind for real.

The man however seemed to become impatient, "I grow tired of your game. I will let you go today but be prepared. The dark moon moves in the night!" With that the man vanished from Mamoru's view and his eerie laughter echoed in the night.

Mamoru's body suddenly filled with weakness and he sank to his knees slowly the strange tuxedo vanishing back to his previous attire. He scanned the sky once more then suddenly slumped over to the ground unconscious. Two figures watched a moment from a tree above the prone man before they jumped to the ground next to him.

"Well its official…" Jadeite said as he knelt lifting Mamoru into his arms and looking to his companion.

"I had truly hoped to give him a choice in this matter," Kunzite said eying the limp body of his sleeping prince in his friend's arms. "As for his transformation… it's most peculiar."

Jadeite nodded his blonde hair falling into his eyes, "we'll have to ask Luna and Artemis about it. However we must for the moment return the prince to his home, Zoicite will be delivering the 'cats' soon."

Kunzite snorted with laughter at the thought, both Luna and Artemis had the ability to turn into normal sized felines. It was a part of their heritage and once that came in handy most times, however Artemis found it demeaning to be treated like a common house pet whenever they needed someone to go undercover. "I have a feeling that my cousin will be cranky for the next few days."

Jadeite just laughed then turned and teleported to the rooftop above the park, together he and Kunzite moved back through the city towards the apartment complex that Mamoru lived in.

"It worries me that the dark moon has started to move already, we only just found the prince." Jadeite said bunching his legs under him as he leapt to another rooftop.

Kunzite followed the other man easily, "yes but we were expecting this. Which is why we started to look for them in the first place."

Jadeite landed softly and paused adjusting the weight of the man in his arms before jumping once more, "yes but I've been wondering if we should awaken the princess's guardians as well." He said grunting as he stumbled on a landing.

Kunzite's hand shot out to steady his friend, "I've been wondering that myself. We are aware of the identities of at least some of them."

The two men paused their conversation as they landed on the balcony of Mamoru's apartment and Kunzite waved a hand opening the door while Jadeite moved into the space depositing Mamoru gently on the couch.

"Rest well my prince… and I'm sorry." Jadeite said softly before turning with Kunzite and exiting the apartment.

They quickly jumped from the balcony to the street below and strolled down the street, "I think we should wait on the princess's guardians until we know for sure we've found the princess. From there we can see what she would like to do, or at least wait until Mamoru regains his memories and ask his opinion." Jadeite said as he pretended to bend down and tie his shoe.

"You may have a point, there's no sense in disrupting the lives of everyone if this turns out to be something we can handle with the minimum show of force." Kunzite said though his icy blue eyes held sadness at the thought.

Jadeite stood and gave his friend an understanding look, "I think that's probably the best course of action."

A man carrying two animal carriers moved passed Kunzite and Jadeite the three men shared a polite nod before they went their separate ways.


End file.
